# World

7 civilians gunned down in Afghanistan

Taliban militant group has not made comments so far.

SNS | New Delhi | April 8, 2020 2:15 pm

At least seven civilians were killed after an anti-government militants opened fired at them in Afghanistan’s northern Balkh province, according to the local police on Wednesday.

Sayyid Aref Iqbal, police chief of Sholgara said, “The victims went to a mountain side for picnic in Taliban-held area in Sholgara district on Tuesday. They were held by militants and were shot dead later on the Tuesday evening,”

Local villagers shifted the bodies to the district center and their relatives were notified, the police chief added.

Taliban militant group has not made comments so far.

Last week, an unidentified gunmen and suicide bombers stormed a Sikh gurdwara in the heart of Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul that left at least 27 worshippers dead and injured as many, in one of the deadliest attacks on the minority community in the country, Eight people were injured in the attack.

In January, one civilian was killed and two were wounded after a sticky IED explosion struck a vehicle in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital city of the Balkh province.

Taliban militants have been using home-made IEDs to make roadside bombs, landmines and suicide attack vest targeting security forces, but the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians.

The IED explosions, including induced roadside bomb blasts and suicide attacks, were the leading cause of civilians’ casualties in 2019, followed by ground fighting and pro-government forces-related airstrikes, according to officials.

The Afghan civilians continue to bear the brunt of armed conflicts as more than 3,400 civilians were killed and over 6,900 others injured in conflict-related incidents in 2019, according to the figures released by UN mission in the country.

Taliban militants, who ruled the country before being ousted in late 2001, renewed armed insurgency, killing government troops as well as civilians.